Sleep's Overrated
by Erin or Lindsay
Summary: CHICAGO MED. MANSTEAD fic. When Will offered to drive Nat to the hospital, she never thought that she would agree to it. Actually she never thought that she would call him until after the baby was born. Post 1x04


For the first time in weeks, Will had gotten off shift at a decent hour. He'd been taking extra shifts, or different, later ones. Tonight though, he got in before 9:30, grabbed a bite to eat and crawled into bed. The shrill ringing of his phone woke him after a couple hours. He rolled towards the offending noise, looking to see who was disrupting his night.

"Shit." He was wide awake the second he saw Nat's name and picture. "Nat?"

"Yeah, you know how you wanted me to call you when I went into labor. Well it's time, and I'm giving you an out because I know you've been working like crazy all week and you probably want to jus-"

"An out?" He managed a dry laugh into the phone while pulling some jeans on. He struggled with the one hand and ended up dropping the phone.

"Will? What's going on?"

He picked up the phone and walked out into the hall. "No no, I don't want an out. I'm dressed and I'll be there in a few."

"Are you sure? Because it's 2:30 in the morning and I thought you might want your sleep." She heard his car door shut through the phone.

"I'm positive. Plus I told you. Sleep's overrated."

"Will I can drive myself, I just thought that you would want to know, but I am giving you a chance to go back to bed."

"Well you're not driving yourself 'cause I'm already outside and I'm wide awake now." He jump out of the car, keeping it running with the hazards on, and took the stairs two by two until he reached her door. "So can you open the door so we can go."

Natalie walked, well it was more of a waddle, to the door and opened it to find him. "You didn't have to come." She smiled at him, "But thank you."

"Of course I did." Will walked into the apartment, looking around. "Where's your baby go bag?" Knowing that she's had it packed away since early month 7, he figured that he wouldn't have to go far. She pointed to the hall, wincing as a contraction hit her. "Hey," he momentarily forgot about the bag and was by her side in a second. "Breathe right? It'll pass in a second and then we're outta here."

She nodded and clenched her fists, waiting for the pain to pass, until she felt his hand on hers. "I'll break your hand, Will."

He laughed at her. "That's okay, I could use some time off anyway." He notice her hands relaxing, jogging to grab the bag so they could leave. "Alright let's go." He kept his hand on the small of her back, leading her down the hall towards the car.

"I texted Maggie, told her that I would be coming in soon." She climbed in his car, watching him out the bag in the backseat. "She told me that you already told her my water broke." She caught his eye as he pulled out onto the street. A sly grin coming over his face.

"Yeah, I uh-. Sorry about that, I didn't want you to worry about anything. She said that she'd come in with April to help out." His grip on the wheel tightened as they got closer to the hospital. "I didn't want you to stress."

"It's okay Will. Thank you." The rest of their ride was quick, the roads were mostly empty due to the early hour. The contractions on the way were a little bit closer.

"This is it, huh?" She saw his head turn towards her quickly as they pulled into a parking space, but she kept hers on her hands. "I'm going to have my baby today." He reached over and squeezed one of her hands in his.

"Yeah, and you're going to be a great mother to a cute kid." He shut the car off and turned back to her. "Come on, Maggie's waiting inside for you." She waited in the car, watching him get out, grab the bag and jog around the car towards her. "You okay?" She stared up at him, the shadow of a smile on his face while he adjusted the baby bag. And for a moment, she thought that she could do this with him. But she still felt the cool metal on the fourth finger of her left hand. She still felt her husband in her.

"Yeah," She nodded, forcing a smile and willing the newly present tears away. "I just wish Jeff was here, you know? I'm happy that you're here with me, don't get me wrong there's no one else I would want." She trailed off.

"Except for him. I'm sorry Nat. I know I didn't know him that well, but I could tell that he was a great man. I know the worry that you felt first hand, and I know I didn't feel the grief that you did. And I know that I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But you have to trust me Nat, you're not alone here. I got you, with everything." He knelt next to the open door and took her hand in his. "But you have to know, if I had a choice I would wish it was him here instead of me." Natalie shook her head.

"He'd be grateful that you're here with me." She leaned towards him and pressed a gentle kiss against his cheek. "Thank you. Now I think we should get in because I can see Maggie at the door."

"Right, yeah." He swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and stood up to look towards the hospital. "Why is Maggie looking at me like that?"

"Because she, like me, thinks it's strange that you were willingly up at 2 A.M. to drive me to the hospital." He laughed, shaking his head as they approached Maggie.

"Good morning Maggie." He flashed his charming, bright smile at her despite the early time.

"Will." Maggie rolled her eyes then turned her attention to Nat. "I got you a room upstairs. Once you up there, I'll bring up the paperwork." She took the bag from Will and guided Natalie towards the elevator, leaving him standing in the lobby of the ED. Nat smiled softly over her shoulder at him as she got in.

In the elevator, Natalie could feel Maggie's glare on her. "What?"

"' _I wanna take you to the hospital. Sleep's overrated.'"_ Nat cracked a smile at her friend's imitation of Will, shocked at how good it was.

"I told you, we're just friends."

"Mhm. Keep trying to convince yourself of that." The ding ended their conversation. Maggie told her the room number while she got the papers together. A couple minutes later, Maggie walked in to find Nat kneeling next to the bed, gripping the blankets.

"Hey I'm here." She knelt next to her friend, rubbing a hand against her back. Once it passed, Maggie helped her change into a gown. "You rest, okay? I'll call OB and see if you can get an epidural. Do you want me to call anyone? Helen? Will?"

"No, no it's too early. We could be here for hours. I don't want her to be in here staring at walls." Nat paused a beat before she continued talking. "Maybe text Will when it's a decent hour, or when I'm closer. I left my phone at home."

"No worries." Maggie sat with her for another hour, helping her get through the contractions, when April knocked on the door.

"Hey how are you doing?"

"Oh you know, I'm about to push a watermelon out of me. So I'm doing good."

"Alright, I brought you some food if you want any." April paused a second, catching Maggie's eye and motioning to the hall.

"Nat I'll be back in a minute." She followed April out into the hall.

"You said that Will brought her in?"

"Yeah, he offered a couple weeks ago. Why?"

"He never left." April smiled softly. "I caught him sitting in an on call room and told him to go home, but he's adamant about being here incase something goes wrong."

"Just friends my ass. Stay with her?" April nodded and watch Maggie mumble to herself as she went to find Will.

He was laying on the couch, but he still saw the door open out of the corner of his eye. A familiar voice pulled him out of thought.

"Will, what are you doing here?"

"I sleep better here than I do at home. Too many cars, it's quiet here at this time."

"Will," Maggie sat on the edge of the couch. "You and I both know that's a lie."

"I didn't want leave her. I told her that I was here with her for this, so she wouldn't be alone." His hands ran through his hair. "I know what you're going to say: she's not alone April's with her, or you're with her. But Maggie-" he looked up at her with desperate eyes.

"It's not you with her." She finished the thought that had been in his mind since she went upstairs. Will nodded and dropped his eyes as he chewed at his lip. "How long have you been in love with Nat?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I see the way you are with her around work, and I saw how you were with her in the parking lot." She stopped talking when she saw him shake his head.

"It doesn't matter, Maggie. She wanted him here. To her, he'll always be her husband. And I get that, I do. Hell, I even told her that I wish he was here for her, because I can't stand to see her in pain like this."

"She wanted him here because that's his kid. And you're right, Jeff will always have a place in her heart, but you will too. She wants you there when she delivers." Will was fighting his smile and looked at Maggie. "Are you going along with this ' _just friends'_ BS?"

"That's all her. All I know is I like her, and she was married and is having his kid, today. So I'm not about to rush into anything. But I want to be there and help out. So if something happens to happen, I'm not going to fight it."

"Room 231. April's with her right now, but I'm sure she'd be more than happy to see you." Will couldn't help it when his smirk grew into a full out smile, yelling a thanks to her as he ran out of the room."

Will walked into her room with a smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of.

"What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

"I wouldn't leave you." He stuttered to cover his words, thinking they were too intimate. "I mean, you need someone here. And you said that he would have been happy if I was with you, and I don't want to piss him off." He sat in the chair that April vacated the moment he walked in the room.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Nowhere else I would rather be." He held her hand in his, giving it a little squeeze. "And you can squeeze my hand as hard as you want. I really wouldn't mind getting a couple days off if you just happened to break it."

"I'll try my hardest." She smiled at him as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle.

 _ **Five hours later, Jonathan Jeffery Manning was born 7 pounds 13 ounces to a very happy mom and an uncle with three broken fingers.**_


End file.
